Mother of Six Loves Her Job: L.A. Cop

At first glance James and Diane McNair seem to be a typical American couple. They both work. They live in the suburbs. True, they break the norm by having six children, aged 17 to 2 1/2. Still, it’s not enough to raise eyebrows.

Over the last month and a half, however, the McNairs of Rowland Heights have moved beyond stereotypes.

Diane McNair, 37, has joined her husband, a 15-year veteran, as a member of the Los Angeles Police Department. Since shortly after graduating from training in December, Diane--who had been a housewife throughout her marriage--has been working the 3 to 11 p.m. shift at the department’s Newton Division in southeast Los Angeles.

The department says Diane is the only mother with six children at home to graduate from the academy--a record that probably will stand for a while. (Department spokesman Phillip Barton explained that other women with several children have received police training but none with as many still under one roof as McNair.) The photograph with Police Chief Daryl Gates marking that occasion also probably stands as a record of an increasingly rare event--all the McNairs in the same place at once.

“I guess I get to play Mr. Mom for a while,” said James, a sergeant in employee relations at Parker Center downtown.

“I see the kids in the morning as they’re going out the door,” Diane said.

So far, both said, the family has adjusted well to a schedule that has turned household routine upside down. The kids now pitch in on more chores and help prepare meals. And they seem to be getting used to seeing mom in a police uniform.

Diane, who will be on probation for a year, is giving the job rave reviews. “I love it, I love it. It’snot as bad out there as the media portray it . . .”

She added that a combination of reasons led her to choose police work. First, she was familiar with the job because of her husband’s tenure with the department. Furthermore, the variety inherent in police work was appealing. “I just can’t see myself sitting around an office doing the same thing day in and day out,” she explained.

But the bottom line was money. With children approaching college age, not to mention the expense of just having six children, the McNairs said they realized Diane would have to go to work. With starting pay of about $27,800, a rookie officer’s slot seemed more lucrative than many other jobs, the McNairs said.

Diane added, “If I didn’t have to be working, I would be home with my kids.”

JUST LIKE A LIVING DOLL

Artist Cheryl Wilson, who started drawing cartoons of people as a child, began making rag doll pillows to sell to fellow employees and clients at a talent agency in Los Angeles. Then Wilson made a small doll caricature for some friends in the agency and from there began making life-size dolls as well.

She sculpts the life-size, child-size and miniature caricatures out of Styrofoam, fiber fill and stockings. “Word of mouth spread like crazy through the industry,” said Wilson, who was so successful that she has opened a shop in Malibu called Cheryl Wilson’s Dollworks.

With a photograph and a written description including the size of the person, Wilson can sculpt to order any friend, relative, fellow employee, or Hollywood star.

In fact, she has already sold sculptures of such stars as Pee-wee Herman, Marilyn Monroe, Tom Selleck, Bob Hope, Mr. and Mrs. Gene Autry, Frank Sinatra and Joan Rivers.

“These have a lot more humor about them. You can change their clothes,” said Wilson. “The medium (size dolls) are my best seller because they easily move around the house or office and (can even) sit in the car seat next to you.”

LOVE YOUR CAR ON FEB. 14

With Valentine’s Day looming, it may be time to combine romance and dirt removal.

This is the thinking of the folks at the Sunset Car Wash, 7955 Sunset Blvd., who will be passing out flowers and free champagne--accompanied by live piano music from 1 to 5 p.m. this Saturday as an inducement to have people do something nice for their cars.

“We’re kind of a high-class car wash. We set the trends for other car washes,” boasted Sunset’s Christina Travali.